“Some of the best-known Merchant Ivory films — including ‘Howards End,’ ‘Maurice’ and ‘Heat and Dust’ — will be headed back to theaters under a deal in which the indie distributor and financier Charles S. Cohen acquired a 30-film library of movies directed and produced by the James Ivory-Ismail Merchant filmmaking team,” writes Michael Cieply in The New York Times.

The article adds, “In a statement, Mr. Ivory, 87, said he was ‘gratified — and relieved’ to have placed the films with Mr. Cohen’s company. Mr. Merchant died in 2005. Merchant Ivory was known for lush, romantic period pieces of a sort that Mr. Cohen said he hoped to produce again under that company’s name.” Merchant was a producer, Ivory is a director.

“Howards End” won three Academy Awards at the 1993 ceremony, including Best Actress (Emma Thompson), Best Screenplay (Adapted) (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala) and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Luciana Arrighi, Ian Whittaker). The movie was nominated for 6 other Oscars, including Best Picture. (“Unforgiven” won the Best Picture award that year.)